Metaverses, also referred to as virtual universes or worlds, are computer-based simulated environments intended for its users to inhabit, traverse, and interact via avatars, which are personas or representations of the users of the metaverse, and generally take the form of two-dimensional or three-dimensional human or fantastical representations of a person's self. Metaverses, are now most common in massive multiplayer online games, such as Second Life (a trademark of Linden Research, Inc. in the U.S., other countries or both), the Sims Online (a trademark of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S., other countries, or both), and World of Warcraft (a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in the U.S., other countries, or both). A feature of such applications is that are persistent, i.e., the virtual worlds exist continuously, even when a given user is not logged in. Avatars in these types of metaverses, which can number well over a million, have a wide range of business and social experiences.
Current metaverse applications allow a user to cause an avatar to take a photograph or video of a nearby scene using, e.g., keystrokes. The photographs or video can then be saved to an avatar's inventory for instance. This however requires the user to be logged in and active in the metaverse.